Archive Your Memories

By Susan M. Thigpen © 2012

Online: 2012

If you have an old time story that was passed down through your family, or your memories of growing up, of your parents, grandparents or an elderly friend, please consider placing it in The Mountain Laurel Archive.

Our goal is the long-term preservation of old memories and stories. Archived so future generations can experience the memories and perhaps catch a glimpse of yesterday.

Personal memories, and the small day-to-day events that shaped mountain life and rural culture, are often neglected and lost. Those are the stories we cherish.

Since The Mountain Laurel began in 1983, many well-known and talented writers have contributed their stories; writers such as Tom Sieg, John Parris, C. David Hay, Grace Cash, Lilly Emery, James Still, Hazel Hedrick, John Hassell Yeatts, and the list goes on and on.

Many of the most powerful and wonderful stories we’ve ever included were written by first-time writers; some were over eighty years old. People who simply wrote the story as if they were telling it to a friend.

Below is the criteria for new submissions:

1 - Must be an original work by you or a story handed down through your family.

2 - Must fit the editorial format of The Mountain Laurel.

3 - Length can be from a paragraph to book length.

4 - Excerpts from published works are acceptable.

Please copy and paste your submission directly into your email, or send directly from your smartphone, and attach any pertinent photographs or graphics you wish to have included. In the Subject line please type, “Memories.”

By submitting your story you are granting The Mountain Laurel the non-exclusive right to include it in The Mountain Laurel Archive website and for possible inclusion in a future collection of selected stories. You will still own the copyright to your story.

Send your story to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Please include your full name, address and telephone number. We do not share contact information.

Updated: 2014